A New Chapter
by NishaFox
Summary: NaLu AU. Lucy Heartfilia had always been home schooled, so going to a huge university was an entirely new adventure for her, especially when she meets a pink haired boy named Natsu Dragneel.
1. The Start of A New Chapter

**A/N: First off, I'd like to say that it feels good to be writing again! I know I'm still really rusty and I have a lot I need to brush up on again, but I'm just glad to at least be trying again.**

 **Now, as for the story, this is a college AU in modern times. I don't want to give anything away so I'll put the rest of my notes at the end!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.**

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Today was not a normal day for Lucy Heartfilia, today was the beginning of a new chapter in her life, the day she moved into her college dorm, her first day as a college student. She was overflowing with excitement, she was always home schooled and this was her first real adventure outside of her family's estate by herself. Lucy had woken up entirely too early, she had her things packed weeks in advance, already stowed away on her family's private plane, and she was now sitting, or more accurately, bouncing, outside her mother's bathroom waiting to depart for the university. "Come on mama! I want to get there early so I don't have to fight Levy for the bed by the window!"

Levy was Lucy's soon to be roommate, they had spoken through emails non-stop since freshman orientation where everyone was given their schedules for the semester and the information of their respective dorm-mates. Though they had only met that one day, they instantly hit it off and became fast friends, and both had expressed their desire to have the bed by the window.

Lucy's mother Layla chuckled through the bathroom door at her exuberant daughter, "Oh Lucy, calm down my darling, I'll be ready in five minutes. How about you go find Ms. Spetto and make sure you have everything?"

Lucy sighed at her mother, "But mama, I already packed everything and I double checked an hour ago!"

"Just trust me darling, you're excited and might have overlooked something."

"Okay mama, but I'm telling you, I didn't miss anything." Lucy begrudgingly took off for the main foyer and heeded her mother's words. "I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes then!"

"Yes, my dear!" Lucy heard her mother chuckling once more before she rounded a corner and headed for the stairs.

It was quite easy to find Ms. Spetto, suspiciously so, as Lucy barely made it to the last step when she saw the kindly old maid smiling brightly at the young girl just 10 feet away. "Why hello Lady Lucy, are you excited for today?"

Lucy's smile grew wider at her favorite maid's question, "I feel like I can hardly sit still! I'm so happy to finally be going to a school with so many people! And so far all of the other freshman I met were really nice! I can't wait!"

"That's wonderful Lady Lucy!"

Nearly forgetting why her mother sent her to find the sweet old woman, she asked, "Oh, mama told me to check with you that I had everything before we leave? I don't think I forgot anything, I checked and double checked already…"

The old maid smiled once again and turned away from the young girl, "There is one thing young miss," Lucy followed her to a couch facing the other direction as Ms. Spetto reached down and grabbed a gift bag overflowing with tissue paper. "Lady Layla told me you might be wanting this."

Lucy took the gift and gave Ms. Spetto a curious stare as she carefully dug through the paper in the large bag until she felt something soft and plush. As she pulled out the mystery gift, her eyes went wide, "But how… how did you find this? And wait, did you fix his eye and nose?!" What Lucy held in her hands now, having already dropped the bag and paper, was a medium sized plushie, one that Lucy had thought she would never see again after bringing it on one of her father's business trips and losing it. It was a little white dog, or at least, she thought it was a dog, it could have also been a snowman, no one really knew what it was supposed to be, but Lucy had loved it dearly. "Plue… oh Ms. Spetto!" The young girl quickly hugged the kind maid with all her might.

Ms. Spetto simply laughed as she returned her mistress' hug, "My Lady, don't thank me, it was Lady Layla who found it, I simply patched the poor dear up!"

The young girl wiped a tear as she backed away, "But how? How did she find it after all these years?!"

"I saw it sitting in a thrift shop window while I was away with your father last month. I remembered how much you cherished it and how upset you were when you lost it, my dear. I could hardly believe it was yours, but the manager told me he found it lying in the street all those years ago and was never able to sell it." Layla Heartfilia was nearing the end of the staircase as she spoke, a light smile adorning her face as she watched her daughter light up at the little dog.

Having to wipe another tear away, Lucy hugged her mother and Ms. Spetto once more, "Thank you both so much!"

"You're welcome, my love. Now, since you have everything, are you ready?"

As Lucy hugged the little dog tightly to her chest, she pumped her fist in the air, "Yes! Now I know I'm ready for this, college, here I come!"

Lucy sat impatiently through the three hour plane ride from her home to Magnolia. She bounced her leg, and when she finally noticed she would cross her legs and the other would start, she couldn't sit still and changed positions in her seat multiple times, she even got up and walked around a few times. Lucy was getting nervous, restless, and antsy, though she couldn't help but still be excited as well. No comforting words from her mother or attempts to distract herself with a book could calm her. To her, the plane ride was nothing short of agonizing, so it was no small surprise to the both of them that stepping off the plane and piling things into the town car they had waiting at the small airport made her sigh with relief. "Finally! That had to be the longest plane ride ever!"

"You're just anxious to start this new chapter in your life, dear, it's perfectly normal to think things are moving too slowly. Just be patient." The older Heartfilia woman had told her daughter just as the last bag was being placed into the trunk, "See, it's only 15 minutes from here, now let's get you to your dorm so you can get your window bunk." Layla chuckled a bit at the end of her statement as Lucy sarcastically rolled her eyes and smiled at her mother.

"I know, you're right mama, let's go."

Once they got to the campus, Lucy could do nothing but stare in awe at all the students and parents walking around, all carrying bags, suitcases, and various boxes. She never actually realized how many people attended Magnolia University, and these were only the ones that lived in the dorms and the older students that were directing everyone!

They found a nice spot close to Lucy's dorm building, Fairy Tail Hall, and Lucy and her mother proceeded to step out of the car, their driver already opening up the trunk, but Lucy quickly caught him, "Oh, Capricorn, please, you don't have to do any more, I can take everything up myself!" She was frantically waving her hands in front of her to tell him it was okay.

"Are you sure Lady Lucy?" The tall gentleman known as Capricorn looked at the young miss skeptically through his chauffer glasses.

Lucy laughed uncomfortably for a second while trying to think of a valid excuse, "Yeah, I mean I need to start doing everything on my own from here on out anyway right? Heheh, besides, it's really no trouble, I want to!"

"Alright my Lady, if you so wish it." Capricorn bowed slightly to her and made his way back to the driver's seat.

Lucy internally cheered that her excuse was enough. If there was one thing she didn't want starting this new chapter of her life, it was for people to see her as a snooty rich girl who couldn't do anything for herself, and having a chauffer carrying her things and calling her Miss and Lady wasn't going to help. She turned to her mother, relieved to know that she didn't question her decision and just started unloading her things. Lucy and her mother grabbed all they could carry and made their way toward the dorm, "My room is on the second floor mama, are you sure you don't want me to carry any of that for you?"

"No dear, I'm fine, I should be asking you that, you look like you're having trouble…"

As soon as Lucy turned her head to question her mother, she crashed into someone walking out the door of the building, both obviously not paying attention to where they were going, and the things hanging loosely over her arms fell. "Agh!"

"What the hell?" a mysterious stranger muffled from the ground.

"I tried to warn you dear. Now, are you alright young man?" Layla asked the poor boy on the ground, although she couldn't quite maneuver things out of her hands enough to help him up.

The boy looked around Lucy, who he couldn't quite see behind her boxes, and answered her mother, "Oh, yeah, I'm alright, I wasn't really watching where I was going, sorry about that." He looked around and saw the things scattered on the ground and started picking them up, chuckling, "Actually, here, let me help you carry some of this up since you've already dropped it once."

At this Lucy finally replied to the boy she couldn't see, "Oh, no, you don't have to do that! It's alright! It was my fault for carrying too much and not watching where I was going, just pile it back on and-"

"Oh no, I'm not gonna let you claim another victim with all this stuff, trust me, there are some people here in Fairy Tail you do NOT want to crash into." The boy shivered visibly for a second and resumed picking things up, though when he saw a certain stuffed dog-thing, he froze, unable to stop himself from asking, "Where did you get THIS thing?"

The younger girl finally turned her head to see the thing in question, "Oh, that's Plue, I got him-" now it was Lucy's turn to freeze. She finally saw her 'victim', and she was thrown off by his pink, yes pink, hair. Lucy found it oddly familiar, but she quickly brushed it off to get back to the question at hand, hoping he didn't notice how intensely she was looking at him, "Er, sorry, your hair is pink. But anyway, I got him when I was young from a little boy who helped me find my parents when I was lost. Why am I telling you this?!"

He smirked and flashed the girl a toothy grin, finally standing with the items she dropped, and beginning to take more things from Layla to help out, "Calm down there, I was just wondering, it's… well it's a really weird dog-thing. Anyway, where we headed?!"

Layla answered the boy this time, "We're taking this up to the second floor young man, thank you."

"Oh no! We've spent so much time dawdling here already! I have to get there first!" With that, Lucy ran up the stairs to where she remembered her room waited, hopefully void of her roommate, while Layla and the pink haired boy quickly followed suit.

Lucy rounded the stairs as fast as her legs could take her, her room in sight at the middle of the hall, that's when she saw Levy at the other end of the hallway. Both girls looked at each other for a second, and Lucy started running again, her keys already in her hand, which she somehow managed to dig out of her pockets in all the mess. "I'm gonna get that window!"

Levy took off as fast as her little legs could take her after her roommate, "Not if I have anything to say about it Lu!"

The girls struggled to keep their items in their hands, but it was Lucy who made it to the door first, and how she managed to get the door open so fast was a mystery to everyone, she ran in with Levy right behind her, both girls laughing as they raced towards their prize. The bed was in arms reach, the girls were neck and neck, but suddenly, Lucy tripped over something, something that was apparently moving, because the petite blunette next to her tripped as well. They fell in typical anime style, things flung everywhere, arms strung out in front of them, and face-planted the floor.

The pink haired boy and Lucy's mother had made it to the door just in time to see the girls crash, and much to their chagrin, the boy started laughing, "Happy! How did you get down here, bud?!"

"Who is Happy?" the blunette turned her head to ask the boy, but she was met with a cat's face staring right at her. "Oh! This cute little guy?"

"That's Happy for ya! No idea how he got down here though, I thought I closed the door to my room…"

"Ha! The bed is mine! I win!" Everyone's attention was quickly redirected at Lucy, who managed to get up and plop herself right onto the bed while no one was looking.

"Aww, no fair, Lu!" Levy pouted as she was pulling herself up.

"THAT'S why you were running up here so fast? Haha! You should have just gotten here early like I did!"

The blonde pursed her lips and puffed her cheeks at the boy who was laughing at her, "Whatever! I still got it and I won fair and square!" she then turned her attention to Levy, who was giggling and smiling lightly at the girl, and quickly stuck her tongue out and giggled along with her.

"Oh my," the older Heartfilia had joined in on the laughter, "that's my Lucky Lucy alright. It seems you are going to have a good time here. I'm going to head down to the car and start grabbing the rest of your things."

"Alright mama, I'll be right there, I'm just going to pick this up first."

"I'll help you Lu, after all, half of it is my mess too."

The boy had since put his armful down and replaced it with the onyx and blue cat, yes, blue. "I'm gonna take Happy back to my room. I'll still help you if you want, I moved all my things in a while ago." He now looked to the blonde for confirmation.

"Oh, umm, you don't have to, you've already done enough to help…" The blonde looked down timidly as her cheeks heated up slightly.

"It's no problem! My roommate's probably here by now and I'd rather not stay in my room for a while anyway!" He once again flashed a toothy grin, his canines popping out more than anything, Lucy had noticed. With that he rushed out of the room, cat in hand, before Lucy had a chance to say anything more.

"So who was that? I thought you didn't know anyone here Lu?" Levy questioned Lucy while the girls cleaned up their mess.

"I really don't know, I kinda crashed into him on my way in and he just decided to help my mom and I. He seems like a good guy I guess. Didn't give me a name though, and that hair, it really reminds me of something, but I just can't place what…" The blonde stared off as her last sentence dragged on through the silence.

Said boy entered the room not moments later, practically bouncing, startling the two girls "Alright, let's go blondie! Hop to it!"

"I have a name you know!" Lucy looked at the boy incredulously with her hands on her hips, now standing to face him.

"Yeah, yeah, come on Rushi!" the pinked haired boy ran out of the room snickering with Lucy following close behind.

"Say it right! It's Lucy!"

Once everyone had managed to get Lucy and Levy's things into the room, an hour had passed, and it was time Layla Heartfilia had to head home. "Alright my darling, we've gotten all of your things. I'm sure you want to start unpacking right away, and I need to get home to meet your father before he has to leave again tomorrow. I love you so very much," she kissed her daughter on the forehead and encased her in a tight hug, "call me when you're settled."

"I will mama, I love you."

"Goodbye ma'am, it was nice to meet you!"

The older Heartfilia waved and made her way to the door, but stopped short to turn to the pink haired boy, "Young man, before I leave, what is your name?"

Said boy straightened himself and flashed a grin at the older woman, "My name's Natsu, Natsu Dragneel!"

Layla gave the boy a knowing smile and hugged him, whispering to him, "Take care of my daughter Natsu, and thank you for everything." She turned to smile at her daughter once again and left without another word.

The room was silent for a second, Levy and Lucy had started unpacking and Natsu sat there, dumbfounded and deep in thought, until Lucy broke him out of his stupor, "Thank you for all your help Natsu, I'll make it up to you."

Natsu was staring at the form of the blonde now, catching her glance for a split second before putting a hand behind his head and walking out of the room, chuckling, "You'll just have to buy me lunch sometime!"

"I can do-" He was gone, "that." Again there was silence, Lucy simply shook her head and returned to the daunting task of unpacking all her things. She made it. Maybe not exactly the way she planned, but she made it, and nothing excited her more than starting this new chapter.

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 **A/N: Alright, so first off, Lucy's mother is alive. I want Lucy to have a happy backstory for once, and this is my AU dammit, so there will be a happy background! Oh, and if you get the feeling that I'm alluding to something, I am, I just won't tell you what yet ;P. Lucy is going to be a little out of character this time around, considering she has never really been around people in a school environment or stayed around kids her own age for very long, so don't yell at me alright? Also, I'm just going to tell you now, some ages are going to be changed a bit for characters in the future.  
**

 **Anyway, I kinda just started writing this and word vomit came out and took shape, I guess this is going to be a multi-chapter type deal, which is weird for me.**

 **I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, I have part of it written, but I need to sleep on it and get some fresh ideas before I continue. I at least knew where I wanted this chapter to start and where I wanted it to end, the middle just took shape until this came out, and I need my next chapter to do the same for me to be happy about it. I'll try to get a chapter up every few weeks, could be sooner, could be later, but I will try.**

 **Please review, follow, favorite, ya know, whatever you feel like XD.**


	2. Settling In

**Just a short chapter today, a lot of filler, but we meet Lucy and Levy's RA! I hope you enjoy!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima, I simply own the plot for this story.**

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"Yeah mom, I'm all settled, everything is put away, now I can just relax." Lucy smiled as she sat on her bed, holding her phone to her ear.

"That's wonderful darling, take a picture for me!" Her mom's sing-song voice rang through the other end.

"Alright, hold on a sec," Lucy stood to go to her doorway to get a better picture of the room so she didn't have to take multiple, "there, sending it to you now."

A few seconds ticked by in silence as her mother awaited the picture, "Oh that looks great dear! I see Miss Levy has gotten all her things tidied away as well, good for you both."

"Thanks mom," Lucy said with a smile as she made her way back to plop down on her bed, her legs dangling off of the high single, "Levy and I both helped each other out a lot, now it finally feels like home."

"I'm happy for you dear." There was a sudden silence on her mother's end and Lucy became slightly apprehensive, "Your father just walked in, would you like to talk to him before we go out to dinner?"

Lucy's apprehension left as fast as it came on, "Of course! Let me talk to him!"

There was another quick moment of silence as Lucy heard the phone being jostled around, "Hello? Lucy? How are things? Did you get everything settled? How is your roommate? Are you getting along? Have you made any friends yet? Do you want to come home? I can send a car right now! Capricorn, go-" Her father's words rushed out at a mile a minute.

"No, no, I'm fine dad! Things are great, I just finished, Levy is fine, we still get along great, I haven't even left my room yet, and I will be home during break! Just calm down dad! I'm gonna have the time of my life here!" Lucy giggled as she answered her father's questions, she faintly heard her mother laughing up a storm on the other end as well.

"Oh, okay, as long as my little girl is alright. You tell me if something happens and you need to get home though! I will pick you up myself if I need to! I'm sorry to have to cut this short though, your mother and I have reservations at eight and we're already pushing it. I love you my daughter." Her mother's voice sounded on the other end of the line as well with a chorusing _I love you Lucy_ mingled with her father's.

"I know dad, and I will, I love you dad," Lucy got a little louder to rival her mother, "and I LOVE YOU TOO MOM!"

Her father was chuckling now, "Goodbye Lucy."

"Goodbye dad." And the call ended.

Lucy was quickly joined on her bed by her petite, blue haired friend, though she had to jump to get up, "Haha, your parents seem nice, Lu, I'm glad I got to meet your mom."

Lucy looked at her friend with knowing eyes, a tinge of sadness in her voice, "Yeah, they're pretty goofy sometimes, but I love them, and my mom definitely liked you. I wish I could have met yours…"

Silence dragged on as Lucy wondered if she shouldn't have said so much, but finally, in a soft voice, Levy spoke up, "I wish you could have met them too Lu, they would have loved you." Levy gave the blonde a sad smile, "It's been hard without them, but at least now I don't have to live alone anymore, now I have you."

Lucy stared at her friend with wide eyes, putting on a wide smile for her friend, who she couldn't stand seeing so sad, and rolled over to hug the small girl with all her might. "You won't ever have to be alone anymore Levy, you can come with me when I go home for breaks if you want, and I'll always be here for you!"

The small girl stayed still for a second, in shock at her friend's kind words, and then a huge, genuine smile spread across her cheeks as she hugged her back. "Thank you so much Lucy, you're a great friend! I wish we knew each other sooner!"

The girls stayed like that for quite some time, just hugging and smiling, that is, until their door busted open. "Alright girls, room check!" The girls sprang up and stared at the doorway, or rather, they stared with wide eyes at the girl who had flung open their door. The girl was probably no more than a year or two older than themselves, with fiery red hair, practically scarlet, that covered one of her dark brown eyes. She wore a simple blue pleated skirt with a white, frilly tank top, and black boots reaching her knees. The girls stared a bit too long as the redhead grew impatient and pushed her way through the room, looking in all the drawers, "If you have any alcohol or paraphernalia I will find it. I hope for your sake you girls aren't hiding anything."

Levy was the first to shake out of her initial shock, "N-no ma'am, we don't have anything like that here. Would you happen to be our RA-?"

Lucy then jumped in, a small surge of rage in her, "You can't just barge in here like that, RA or not! You still have to knock! It's just rude not to!"

The blunette looked at her blonde friend with a horrified expression as the scarlet haired girl closed the dresser she was currently looking in and walked over to the two with an unreadable expression, "I'm sorry," the girl looked down and shook an angry fist, "I'm sorry that I did not respect your privacy, I should have knocked, please forgive me!" She quickly looked up at them with a look of sorrow, "You may strike me if you wish!"

Both girls deadpanned, they looked at each other and then redirected their attention to the girl who was now kneeling before them. Lucy spoke first, "Look, I'm sorry, I blew up at you and it's really not that big of a deal, I mean you're just doing your job, its okay, really!"

Levy then continued on, kneeling down to bring the girl back to her feet, "We probably wouldn't have heard you knock anyway! Let's start over alright? I'm Levy, and this is Lucy, and you are?"

The scarlet haired woman recovered quickly once the short girl introduced them, "My name is Erza; I am indeed your resident advisor. Forgive me, it's my first year and I just wanted to do a decent job at it, I will keep my manners in mind in the future." She took both girls into a skull crushing hug as she slammed them into her chest, "I hope we can be friends despite my rude intrusion. I came to check up on you girls and see that you were getting along with moving in, and to tell you that there will be a gathering for all new students staying in Fairy Tail Hall on the main floor at nine, a party of sorts, to welcome you all to our family."

The two girls struggled for breath in the woman's tight hold as she smiled down at them, "Nice to… meet you Erza…" Lucy choked out.

"We'll… make sure to be there…" Levy choked on her own words as she finished the blonde's sentence, her face turning the color of her hair.

Erza released the two girls and grinned at them as she began making her way out of the room, "Good, I expect to see you both!" She barked. Then she was gone, leaving the door wide open.

Lucy and Levy leaned their hands on their knees as they both struggled to breathe normally, "Well," Lucy said between breaths, "that was, weird, to say the least."

Levy looked over at Lucy and concurred, "I'll say, this year will definitely be interesting."

The two friends fell back onto Lucy's bed and stared at the ceiling, "Yeah," Lucy said with hope, "It definitely will be."

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 **The next chapter should be a little longer, but I felt this was necessary to introduce at least one of the other characters, and of course it had to be Erza! I also touched a little more on Lucy's relationships. Lucy's dad is overprotective and overbearing, but still a goofball, I felt it was fitting with her mother still being alive. Lucy already sees Levy as a sister and the two girls are extremely close after such a short time, they talked about EVERYTHING with each other before they moved into their dorm.**

 **Letters will be updated on Saturday, so look forward to that if you follow it!**

 **Feel free to leave a review, follow, favorite, whatever suits your fancy!**


	3. Introductions

**I'm so sorry this took me so long guys, schedules and I don't really mix well. But here is your chapter 3!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima, I simply own the plot to this story.**

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Lucy had finally picked her outfit for the night, no way was she going to meet the rest of her dorm-mates wearing sweats and her Magnolia University shirt. She had picked something simple, white shorts, a flowy purple spaghetti strap shirt, knee high black boots, and a white ribbon to tie up her long hair in a side pony. "Levy," she turned to her friend after she had finished tying up her hair, "do you think this looks alright?"

Levy looked the busty blonde up and down before answering, "You look great! I was actually going to ask you the same thing." Levy had taken a similar approach, wearing white shorts, an orange tank top with a black vest, black gladiator sandals, and an orange ribbon used in place of a headband.

"Levy, you're too cute to ever NOT look alright!" Lucy giggled at the blunette as they smiled at each other.

"Aww thanks, Lu! Well then," the small girl grabbed her room keys and the book that was lying on her bed, "I guess we should go down to the main floor."

Lucy grabbed her keys and her cell phone as she followed her small friend out of the room, "Yeah. What do you think we'll even be doing?"

"I'm not sure," the blunette said as she waited for her roommate to lock their door, "it's probably just going to be a meet and greet. Half of these people probably already know each other though so I'm not entirely sure what to expect."

As the two made their way down the hall and to the stairs, Lucy couldn't help but wonder what kind of people she would meet. After all, the only three people she had met so far were Levy, Erza, and that pink haired boy, Natsu. She was enthralled with the thought of meeting more people, until she walked into the common room. There were so many people that Lucy didn't even know what to do. She stood behind Levy as they made their way across the room to a relatively empty corner. _Levy was right; it looks like everyone is talking to each other already. Well, at least I have Levy here._ She poked her friend and whispered in a hushed tone, "Levy, what do we do? I didn't think there would be so many people…"

The blunette looked at her friend with slight concern, just as she was about to comfort her friend, her name was called. "Levy?!"

"Levy, we found you!" Two males around their age were making their way through the throngs of people to reach the short girl.

As the two boys finally reached the girl, they wasted no time tackling her, to which Levy smiled and patted their backs. "Jet, Droy, I didn't know you two were going to MU!"

The redhead was the first to speak as they parted, "Well this school does have the best track team in Fiore, did you really think I could resist it? And Droy here got a scholarship in the biology department." The boy, who Lucy now assumed was Jet, pointed at his friend, who had the weirdest cow lick to his hair she had ever seen.

"We didn't know you were gonna be here Levy, it's good to see you." Droy blushed a little, but Lucy figured her petite friend hadn't noticed it, since her eyes went slightly downcast as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry I haven't really kept in touch, a lot happened after I left. It's good to see you guys again too." A flash of sadness passed through Levy's eyes, but disappeared when Lucy grabbed her shoulder, giving her a warm smile. "Oh! I want you guys to meet my roommate! This is Lucy, a total sweetheart and a really close friend." She then pointed to the boys, "This here is Jet, the fastest guy I've ever met, and this is Droy, I don't think anyone has a greener thumb than him."

The boys flashed huge smiles at Lucy as she nodded to both of them, "It's great to meet you both. So you all went to the same high school?"

"Actually," Levy looked between her friends, "we were in school together since kindergarten, I moved just before senior year though."

Lucy nodded in understanding as the boys started talking to Levy about everything that happened while she was gone. Her eyes scanned the room she was in once again, having forgotten that there were still so many new people. Anxiety crept up on her as she looked at the groups of people laughing and smiling together, she idly scratched at her arm behind her back. _So many people… And I don't know any of them._

She hadn't noticed the scarlet haired woman who had walked up to her. "Lucy, it's good to see you came."

She blinked and turned toward her resident advisor, "Oh, yes," she laughed a little nervously and put on an uncomfortable smile, "I wouldn't have missed it."

The scarlet vixen looked at the blonde with understanding eyes, "Well I'm happy that you're here. We're going to start a foosball match soon, would you like to be my partner?"

Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her new companion, "Uh, me? Why me? I don't even think I've ever played foosball before! Wouldn't someone else be better?"

Erza chuckled as the blonde freaked out, her eyes sparkling a little, "True, I could do that, but I would like to get to know you, and what better way than through the joys of competition?!"

Lucy stuttered over her words, "I, uh, umm, okay, yeah, I can do that."

She was promptly grabbed by Erza and dragged to the other side of the room where numerous other students had already begun to gather, sending one last glance to Levy before the scarlet beauty started yelling. "Alright, everyone who intends to be a part of the foosball tournament, grab your partner and circle around!"

People were scrambling, some looking excited, others bored, and others absolutely terrified. _What? Why would people be scared? It's just a game._ Lucy stood next to her teammate and scanned the pairs that were forming around her, she noticed Jet and Droy pulling Levy back and forth, a lot of male pairs, and finally, on the other side of Erza, she saw Natsu paired up with a beautiful girl with short, white hair fashioned into pigtails, and mesmerizing cerulean eyes. She hadn't noticed that she was staring until Natsu waved her out of her trance, "Heya Luigi! Ready to get whooped?!"

She smiled faintly as he gave her a huge grin, "I've never really played," nervously, she let out a laugh, "I don't think I have much of a chance against this many people… And my name is not Luigi!"

"Lucy," the scarlet haired woman's hand was on her shoulder now, "don't worry, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. Just keep in mind that we must win."

She saw the older girl's face contort into one of absolute seriousness and shivered a bit, "Y-yes ma'am!"

The older woman was now barking out orders to the groups, rules, the basic layout of the competition, and she had even pulled a whiteboard from who-knows-where to draw out the pyramid in which the teams would move to get to the next rounds. Lucy had lost interest after she had heard the rules, and had taken the opportunity to observe the room while no eyes were on her. Almost immediately, she noticed something strange, as she caught sight of Jet and Droy once more, she noticed that neither were paired with her roommate, instead, they were both glaring daggers at said girl standing, rather uncomfortably, with what Lucy could only describe as a giant metal-head, quite literally. Not only did this guy fit the style of someone in a metal band, with the long black hair and black clothing with chains hanging from his pants, he was also covered in piercings; his ears, his eyebrows, his nose, he even had some under his bottom lip. She didn't know what to think aside from how awkward, yet at the same time complimentary he looked next to Levy. With amusement and wonder, she continued to observe the odd pair, until a certain pink haired boy brought her back to the world around her. "That's Gajeel. How the heck does your friend know him?"

"Huh?" she blinked as she turned her attention to Natsu, "I, uh, I actually have no clue. How do you know him?"

He gave her a blank stare in response, "He's my cousin."

"He's your cousin?! But he's so…"

"Scary lookin'?" he let out a chuckle as he eyed the blonde who seemed to be freaking out over nothing, "Not by blood, his adoptive dad is my adoptive dad's brother."

She did nothing but stare as the wheels spun in her head. _Adoptive dads?_ "Oh."

Both of their thoughts were interrupted as the voice of Erza grew louder, "Alright teams! You know your opponents and your playing orders! Time to begin! Lucy, join me, we're up first."

The blonde froze as all eyes were now on her, "O-okay." She stumbled over to the foosball table as the redhead pointed her towards the goalie side. _Maybe this won't be so bad; I just have to keep people from scoring. You can do this, Lucy!_

She wasn't wrong, as the matches continued on, Lucy quickly realized that she wasn't entirely necessary, Erza was doing most of the work, and no one could even get past her iron-clad offense, save for a few lucky shots that Lucy managed to shoot back to her teammate before they got near the goal. The two chatted between their own matches, watching the other teams while Erza pointed out each and every one of the students to Lucy. She struggled to remember some of the names, but the girl's help was greatly appreciated, as Lucy became more and more comfortable around these strangers.

By the time the semi-finals rolled around, she was entirely invested in the matches; the first was between her and Erza, and a team of two siblings, Mirajane and Elfman. It was easy enough for Lucy, the heated match hardly ever left the center of the table, as Mira seemed to be just as competitive as Erza; the match went on for so long, in fact, that it had to be decided on the first goal, instead of three. Lucy's team won after another ten minutes, then, it was time for Lisanna and Natsu's match against his longtime rival, Gray, and his partner, Cana. It was almost as painstakingly lengthy as her last match was, though theirs was full of insults like "Flame-brain", "Ice princess", "Slanty-eyes", and "Droopy-eyes". In the end though, after all the shouting and loss of clothing on Gray's part, Natsu's team won.

"It seems we shall be facing off once again, Natsu, I hope you are prepared." Erza faced off with the pink haired boy.

"I'm all fired up and ready to take you down, Erza!" He let loose a lopsided grin that showed off his canines. _Why are they so sharp?_

The blonde felt a light pressure on her shoulder as she watched the two and turned to face the source. She was met by the same beautiful cerulean eyes of the girl she now knew as Lisanna. "Good luck! Lucy, right? Ignore them, they're always like this, let's just have fun alright?"

The light smile that the white haired girl gave to the blonde drew out one of her own, and she giggled as she shook the girl's hand, "Good luck to you too! And thank you, this is actually a lot of fun!"

"The battle of the best begins now!" Both girls looked over as their redheaded companion beckoned them towards the table once again, shared one last smile, and made their way.

"Good luck Luigi, but we're gonna win!"

"Not if I can help it, pinky!" He gave her the sexiest smirk she'd ever seen, or at least Lucy thought it was. She determined that it probably wasn't intended that way, but blushed a little nonetheless and smirked right back at him.

The battle that ensued was treacherous, by far the most vicious one of the night. The four shared competitive glares, playful sneers, and empty threats, even the crowd was riled up, choosing sides, making bets, it was a riot. Lucy did not have it so easy this time around, there were quick defensive maneuvers all around the board as Natsu's offense was just as tenacious as Erza's, and Lisanna wasn't letting up one bit, putting up just as much of a fight. A fight to the death, and just as Natsu was about to score, Lucy surprised everyone, with a flick of her wrist, the little ball flew straight for the opposing team's goal. No one saw it coming, not even Lucy fully comprehended what had happened until the red haired maiden slapped her on the back and Natsu fell to the floor in defeat, with Lisanna flopping onto the table, completely out of breath. "I can't believe we lost." Lisanna wheezed out, barely audible amongst the shouts and cheers in the crowd.

"I don't… I don't know what just happened." The blonde blinked in confusion as she turned to her comrade, "We won?"

"Yes, Lucy, we've won, and I couldn't be more proud of my partner." She was squeezed into a tight hug, once again slammed into the competitive woman's breasts. "We are going to be great friends, I'm assured of that."

"Congrats Luce, Erza, you guys won fair and square. Good job!" Natsu had, at some point, raised himself from his slump on the floor and rushed over to the two women in their embrace. He offered them the brightest smile, apparently completely over his defeat.

"Oh, umm, thank you! That was all luck though on my part, I don't think I could do that again." She laughed lightly at the smiling boy as he chuckled.

"Aye, Lucky Lucy, but I'm sure you could do it again! Hell, I'll play with ya again sometime, it'll be fun!"

"Me too, that was amazing, Lucy!" The white haired girl joined in on the laughter, and Lucy pulled them all into a hug now.

"I'd love to. This was awesome! I'm looking forward to a lot more crazy adventures!"

The remainder of Lucy's night was spent introducing Levy to all the people she had met and of course, after seeing Levy's book still in her hands, asking everyone for recommendations of their favorite books until the resident advisors told them all to disperse. Lucy was ready for this year more than ever now, she had her best friend at her side, some new friends to help her along, and a trip to the bookstore to plan.

She crawled into bed that night hugging her Plue tight to her chest and whispering into the dark, "Are you ready Plue?" When she heard no response, she turned to her side and closed her eyes. _I am, no matter what this year brings._

* * *

 **So this one is kind of weird, I know, but I wanted to introduce some more characters and show off Lucy's anxiety a little. It's true I changed her a little for the sake of this story, but she will grow into the same Lucy we all know and love. I also apologize if any of my characterizations don't sit well yet, but please keep in mind that this is an AU, not everyone will be exactly the same as in the manga/anime.  
**

 **There's still a bit of filler to go through until I get to the main part of the story, so bear with me still, aye? I'm still getting the hang of multi-chap stories and the flow I need for them, but I'm learning.**

 **Anyway, tell me what you think, who you might want to see more of, any constructive criticism you might have. Ya know, read, review, follow, favorite, whatever strikes your fancy!**


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